West Ham v Manchester City: Line-ups, stats and preview
City have dominated the fixture for over a decade.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola knows there are “no second chances” for his side as they prepare to face West Ham in the latest hurdle in their Premier League title race with Arsenal.
City could afford to dream of a quadruple nine days ago, but a draw with Nottingham Forest and a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League, setbacks that came either side of an FA Cup win over Newcastle United, have left such hopes in serious jeopardy.
Indeed, in addition to having a mountain to climb to overturn their first-leg deficit to Madrid next Tuesday, City trail Arsenal by seven points in the Premier League, though they have a game in hand and face the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium next month.
Right now, though, the immediate focus is on a West Ham side that is now just a point adrift of safety following an upturn in fortunes under Nuno Espirito Santo.
And Guardiola knows City no longer have room for error with just nine games of their league season remaining.
Asked about the pressure that comes with this point in the season, Guardiola replied: “It is a pleasure to be here. Last season we couldn’t live with that so it is nice.
“Always I have said when we arrive in the last 10 games, now in eight [nine] games and everyone is playing for something. Europa League, qualification for Champions League. Now there is no second chances.”
West Ham reached the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday and have not lost at the London Stadium since the 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in January, which had most pencilling them in as relegation certainties.
They can move out of the relegation zone with a win, though they have not beaten City since September 2015.
“I always believe that Man City is one of the best teams, has as an enormous amount of solutions and talented players and has a fantastic manager,” Nuno told his pre-match press conference.
“What I see is a tough opponent, a very tough opponent for anyone. They have a lot of options and always many talented players that can play in several positions.
“And they have an identity of the way they play football so that any player that eventually you put inside immediately clicks and gets inside of the identity of the team. They have so many options, so many talented players.”
West Ham may need some good fortune to end their near 11-year winless run against City, and Nuno knows luck will be key if they are to escape their predicament.
“[I put our recent results down to] the hard work of the players,” he added.
“I think we improve our game. Like I said, the aspects that we mentioned before – the unity, the team spirit – it’s there and it’s basic that it continues.
“Some luck always helps, and realising that it’s going to be needed.”
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Team news for West Ham v Manchester City
West Ham will be without the in-form Crysencio Summerville because of a calf injury he suffered in West Ham’s FA Cup win over Brentford.
Oliver Scarles and Adama Traore are doubts with knocks sustained in that game, but January signing Pablo Felipe is set to return from a calf issue.
City are still without long-term absentees Mateo Kovacic (ankle) and Josko Gvardiol (shin). Rico Lewis is a doubt with an ankle problem.
Predicted line-ups for West Ham v Manchester City
West Ham: Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf; Fernandes, Magassa, Soucek; Bowen, Pablo, Castellanos.
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, O’Reilly; Bernardo, Cherki; Semenyo, Haaland.
Where to watch West Ham v Manchester City: TV and online streams
West Ham v Manchester City kicks off at 8pm UK time. It will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and will be available to stream via Discovery+. Sky customers with a TNT Sports package can also stream the game via Sky Go.
Stats for West Ham v Manchester City
- West Ham are winless in 20 Premier League matches against City (D3 L17), since a 2-1 win in September 2015. It’s their longest ever winless league run against an opponent.
- Only against Fulham (a current run of 22) and Newcastle (22 between 2006 and 2018) have City had a longer unbeaten run in their league history.
- West Ham have never beaten Manchester City at the London Stadium in the Premier League in nine attempts (D2 L7) – they have only faced Brighton as often without winning there (D7 L2).
- City have lost just one of their last 17 Premier League games (W11 D5), going down 2-0 to Manchester United in January. However, the Citizens have dropped eight points from winning positions in that run thanks to draws with Chelsea, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.
- Guardiola is unbeaten in all 19 of his Premier League games against West Ham (W17 D2), the most a manager has faced an opponent without ever losing in the competition. Meanwhile, the only manager to be unbeaten in their first 20 Premier League games against an opponent is Arsene Wenger against Leicester City (first 20 between 1997 and 2017).
- City’s Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than any other opponent (11). He’s netted at least twice in his last three against the Hammers – only Michael Owen against Newcastle (1998-2001) and Harry Kane against Everton (2017-2018) have scored 2+ goals in four consecutive Premier League games against an opponent.
Prediction for West Ham v Manchester City
West Ham
Manchester City
The absence of Summerville is a huge blow for West Ham. While this is a tricky game for City, it’s one they should be able to navigate successfully.
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